Porsche announces £3.9 billion loss

Fifth Gear  Friday 13 November 2009

Porsche has announced a £3.9bn loss this year, a result of the firm’s failed attempt to take over Volkswagen.

Porsche launched its bid for Volkswagen earlier this year, having built up a 51% stake in the company.

However, the company had to abandon its plans after the borrowing it undertook became too expensive to service and it was unable to acquire enough shares to reach the required 75% needed to complete the takeover. It is now set to become Volkswagen Group’s tenth brand, in a merger that should be completed by 2011.

The previous year Porsche had recorded a profit of £7.7bn.

Without the impact of the takeover attempt, Porsche maintained it is the ‘most profitable automobile manufacturer in the world.’